Tobira Onsen Myojinkan
unscored · Ikyu 4.6 / 5no first-hand write-up in the thread
A single inn standing alone at 1,050 m in the Tobira Onsen canyon above Matsumoto, known for its standing bath over the canyon, with real onsen water in the rooms and a choice of two kitchens that sidesteps kaiseki fatigue. It has been a Relais & Châteaux member since 2008. The crowd adores it (TripAdvisor #1 in Matsumoto, Ikyu 4.56 across 166 reviews), but the reviews are mixed, with the food and the rooms the softest of the Ikyu marks and the service the best. KI-NRT stayed 20-odd years ago and found it pretty good.
Scores
Food
You choose between two kitchens, organic French at SAI and modern Japanese at TOBIRA, both built on Shinshu farm-to-table produce, and Ikyu guests who write about the food mostly call the local cooking delicious. Food is nonetheless the softest of the Ikyu marks at 4.51, and what complaints there are come from the Japanese dining room.
Bath
The water is real Tobira Onsen, and there are three baths, the main bath, the lying bath and the famous half-open-air standing bath over the canyon stream, which Ikyu guests single out above the other two. Not all rooms have onsen, as KI-NRT notes. Ikyu guests put the bath at 4.61.
Service
Service is the best of the Ikyu marks at 4.67, at about the level of an international hotel, with staff who talk with you beyond serving the plates, and a dedicated shuttle from Matsumoto makes the remote spot easy. Myojinkan has been a Relais & Châteaux member since 2008, re-audited by a mystery guest every three years. With 39 rooms and two dining rooms (SAI and TOBIRA) it is a big house, and the weaker Ikyu reviews find the care uneven.
Room
Around 40 rooms make this a resort-sized inn (KI-NRT calls the 39-room footprint rather large, though it makes availability easier to find), and not every room has onsen; some have a private open-air hot-spring bath. The rooms are among the softer Ikyu marks at 4.54, and guests describe interiors that show their age in places.
Place
The inn stands alone at 1,050 m in the Tobira Onsen canyon above Matsumoto, a single house in the mountains that Ikyu guests describe as healing and as a place to reset, with the sound of the stream and birdsong around the bath. If you drive, the last 7 km or so of road are narrow with no room to pass, so leave the large car at home. Matsumoto is close enough for a day at the castle, which KI-NRT calls a must.
Getting there
- Tokyo — 3h25, 0 transfers. JR Ltd Exp 'Azusa' Shinjuku→Matsumoto (~2h35), then Myōjinkan's shuttle (~35–45 min, reserve) or a taxi (~30 min). A Chūō-line spur off the north loop.
- Kanazawa — 3h, 1 transfer. Reverse of: ~35–45-min inn shuttle to Matsumoto, JR Ltd Exp 'Shinano'→Nagano (~50 min), change to Hokuriku Shinkansen 'Kagayaki'/'Hakutaka' Nagano→Kanazawa (~65–70 min). One change at Nagano — cleaner than the Shinano→Nagoya→Kanazawa alternative.
- Kyoto — 4h, 1 transfer. Reverse of: Inn shuttle to Matsumoto, JR Ltd Exp 'Shinano' Matsumoto→Nagoya (~2h05, through the Kiso valley), then Tōkaidō Shinkansen Nagoya→Kyoto (~35 min) — the natural pivot west.